Bayh's exit comments irk Dems

Sen. Evan Bayh handed Republicans plenty of ammunition to use against Democrats when he announced his retirement last week — and some of his colleagues are none too happy about it.

In explaining his decision not to seek reelection, the Indiana Democrat has complained publicly about legislative gridlock, saying that Congress hasn’t done enough to prop up the economy and hasn’t created a single private-sector job in the past six months.

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While many Senate Democrats share Bayh’s frustration with Washington partisanship and stalling on major bills, some are angry that he’s stepping all over their 2010 message: that the 111th Congress has been one of the most productive in a generation, that the stimulus stemmed the tide of job losses and that Republicans, not Democrats, deserve most of the blame for the paralysis afflicting Capitol Hill.

“I just have no idea what he’s doing,” said one Democratic senator, whose face turned red as he threw up his hands after being asked about Bayh.

“We get some of the blame; we moved a little too slowly on health care,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). “My only disappointment, and the only thing I’ll say about Sen. Bayh, is that I think a more accurate portrayal by him was how Republicans have tried to block everything that we’ve done.”

“It almost seems like he’s siding with” Republicans, said one top Democratic aide.

What especially infuriated Democrats was Bayh’s contention on CBS last week that if he could “create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a business, that would be one more than Congress has created in the last six months.”

“That’s not true. That is not true. I think that’s an overstatement,” Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) told POLITICO. “I’ve got material on my desk that shows the jobs that have been created in Louisiana. I don’t think that’s true; in fact, I know it’s not true.”

Bayh walked back his statement in an interview with POLITICO Tuesday, saying it was “hyperbole” and he “wouldn’t say it again.” Still, he said, the statement was “probably largely true” if limited to the past six months — even if what he really meant was “that we’re not doing enough.”

Bayh sought to alleviate some of his colleagues’ anger during a closed-door party lunch Tuesday.

Attendees said he spoke of his decision to retire as being “personal,” explained that he was having trouble transitioning from being a governor to being a senator, promised to help his colleagues in the future and expressed confidence that his seat would stay in Democratic hands in November — even though many now expect the seat to go Republican in deeply red Indiana.

His colleagues applauded him, and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein called his statement “gracious.”

“Those of us who have served with Evan know he has not been happy for some time, and he’s more comfortable — much more comfortable — in the executive branch rather than the legislative branch,” said Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, a fellow moderate and, like Bayh, a former governor.

Bayh told POLITICO that he’s not trying to “lecture” his colleagues but simply laying out his concerns with the Senate and with the pervasive campaign atmosphere in Washington — and that he’s doing it mainly because the media have been so interested in his decision to retire.

“I’m concerned about the future of the country,” Bayh said over the phone, with Indiana-grown rock star John Mellencamp waiting on hold to speak with him. “We face some major and gathering crises ... and we’re not getting nearly enough done to deal with those challenges. Some of that is institutional, some of that is cultural, the way the place operates. Some of that reflects some attitudes of supporters of both parties.”